Yesterday we showed you the latest video from Kevin Liu, the 23 year old Canadian street rider who made a name for himself with a series of internet videos that have enjoyed large success in the world wide trials web. He’s currently riding for Singapore trials brand Rockman Bikes. After testing the Slate for several months he has now gone for a Kortz frame - a surprising choice when you consider his height - he’s more Caisso than Hermance. But this long, high bike seems to suit his riding style perfectly, as you can see in his video).
Now here’s a closer look at Kevin’s new bike. It’s a truly magnificent build that many of us can only dream of and weighs in at under 9kg, a weight that until recently was only possible to achieve by drilling your bike almost to pieces !
Kevin’s new Kortz :
Kevin’s First Impressions :
"I just finished building my new rockman kortz. It’s a little bit heaver than my slate at 8.78kg (slate was 8.5). I had my first ride on the bike today, and it feels amazing. Despite the longer wheel base, the bike feels shorter than the slate. The bike is very responsive, and the frame is much stiffer. The only issue with the frame, is that there isn’t a lot of tire clearance. With a large tire like the der kaiser, i only get about 2mm per side. But the frame is so stiff, that the tire does not rub the frame.
After about 30 minutes on the bike, I was feeling really confident on it. I was able to do a sidehop that I had a lot of trouble with on the slate within the first 3 tries. I was then able to do it every single time after.
I was expecting the bike to be a lot more unstable with the +60mm bottom bracket (the slate was +45). However, the bike feels a lot more comfortable on both wheels and on back wheel. I think the slacker head angle (70.5) helps a lot. I am also running a koxx forxx, which has a 35mm offset rather than a 45mm offset. The higher bar height may have contributed to the steadiness of the bike as well.
This is my first time using the Sapim CX-Ray spokes. I find that although they are lighter than the dt revolutions, the spokes are much less stretchy. I found that my old front wheel with revolutions had a lot of spoke flex, which made the front disc brake feel less direct. These new wheels are definitely a lot stiffer than the old ones."
Here’s the full spec of the bike :
| Frame | Green Rockman Kortz |
| Headset | Silver Echo SL |
| Stem | Tartybike Forged 127x27 |
| Bar | Try All NO WAR Carbon Fibre |
| Fork | Try-All +20mm |
| Front Brake | Hope Mono Trials Carbon/Ti |
| Rear Brake | HS-33 with Carbon Fibre RB Design Lever |
| Cranks | Silver 170mm Try All |
| freewheel | Echo SL 108 |
| Bash | Trialtech Titanium Half Bash |
| Pedal | Wellgo MG-1 |
| Front Rim | Try-All hOle |
| Front Hub | Try-All H |
| Front Spokes | Sapim CX-Ray with ViZ Alloy Nipples |
| Rear Rim | Try-All hOle |
| Rear Hub | Echo SL |
| Rear Spokes | Sapim CX-Ray with ViZ Alloy Nipples |
| Front Tyre | Schwalbe Nobby nic 2.1 |
| Rear Tyre | Continental Der Kaiser |
| Bottom Bracket | Reset Titanium with Echo SL Bolts |
Closeups :
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